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Post by smithy1 on May 1, 2016 17:32:50 GMT -5
Hi All,
Had a good couple of days at a local "Air Show" over the weekend, lots of great aircraft etc to look at, some really nicely restored WW-2 Spitfires and Mustangs, some Russian Yaks etc..also had many different types of helicopters and a RAAF FA-18 doing a couple of flight displays...awesome aircraft and an awesome noise to go with it..
Had the "Beast" out for display as well over the weekend...did a couple of engine runs each day...still having the "flame-out" issues at low rpm/P2...which "I think" are due to poor combustion at low fuel pressures, I can hear it "fluttering" a little at idle even up to ~5psi P2...up higher in the rpm/P2 range and with P2 up ~10psi+ it's running really well...took it up to ~37-38psi P2 and she's really making some good power/thrust. A/B is working a treat too.
John, I'll pick your brains when I come up next weekend to see if there's something I can/should do to help the fluttering/flame out issue, it's probably just a poorly matched fuel injection/upper flame tube, I suspect the atomization is not optimal in the lower fuel pressure ranges...The temps and pressures are still good so I'm not too concerned in that regard. Idle fuel pressure is ~100-110psi.
John, Christine may not be able to come up due to work commitments, will know for sure later in the week....I'll definitely be there. Might drop in to your place in the early afternoon on Friday if it's convenient...I'll take you up on the cup of tea you offered a couple of years ago..! ;-)
Cheers,
Smithy.
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Post by racket on May 1, 2016 23:57:16 GMT -5
Hi Smithy
Looking forward to catching up with you on Friday :-)
Do you still have my address ?
Cheers
John
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Post by smithy1 on May 2, 2016 1:22:05 GMT -5
Hi Smithy Looking forward to catching up with you on Friday :-) Do you still have my address ? Cheers John Yes mate...still have it on file somewhere.. Cheers, Smithy. |
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Post by smithy1 on May 3, 2016 17:33:32 GMT -5
Hi John,
It'll just be me coming up on Friday, Christine unfortunately has work commitments for Saturday. I'm leaving home reasonably early to try and elude the morning traffic chaos... should be near your place at ~midday-ish...
Is there anything you need me to bring for you? I'll have ~80L of Jet A-1 with me... which should be more than plenty, I budgeted to bring a 20L drum for you to play with as well.
Cheers,
Smithy.
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Post by racket on May 3, 2016 18:22:52 GMT -5
Hi Smithy
I'm pretty right for everything thanks
Will be here all day , see you when you get here, I'll have the kettle on for that cuppa ;-)
Cheers
John
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Post by racket on May 7, 2016 18:03:45 GMT -5
Hi Guys On Friday I had the pleasure of catching up with my mate Smithy for that long awaited cuppa tea and to talk crap about turbines .  On Saturday we went to a charity day at the local karting club grounds and I got to see the 6041 do her stuff , very impressive  .............24 hours later my headache is still with me despite the copious amount of painkillers , hopefully the ringing in my ears will go away in a day or so...... thanks Smithy , you've done a beautiful job of creating a great machine , it puts on a really nice show for the punters whilst still being able to reach its full thrust potential , a well developed machine you should be very proud of  The highlight of the day was the ice cream seller who parked his van just behind us despite being warned about our "toys" ..............anyone for kero flavoured ice creams ?? The Police Car parked around 200 feet/60 metres away ended up covered in dust from our "displays" ...............heh heh , the kart was blowing dust and gravel a long way . As part of the days entertainment there were a lot of tattooed Harley riders there doing rides to make money for the charity , ...........LOL, they all took the "mandatory" 3 steps backwards when the kart fired up her afterburner ............pussies  Cheers John |
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Post by Deleted on May 8, 2016 2:49:25 GMT -5
Hi John and Smithy Great to see Smithy play with his toys especially the GT6041 powewered Gokart she sounds sweet (and very loud!!) have a look youtu.be/tratd9-UEvIcheers chris |
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Post by racket on May 8, 2016 16:19:42 GMT -5
Hi Chris
It was great catching up with you again on the weekend , nice for a few of us widely spread guys to get together and talk turbines face to face rather than at the end of a keyboard .
I hope the trip back to Brisbane went well without too many roadworks .
LOL............I had to watch your video with the sound turned right down , my head is still hurting .
Thanks again for doing the long drive down , it rejuvenates and inspires me :-)
Cheers
John
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2016 2:59:25 GMT -5
Hi Chris It was great catching up with you again on the weekend , nice for a few of us widely spread guys to get together and talk turbines face to face rather than at the end of a keyboard . I hope the trip back to Brisbane went well without too many roadworks . LOL............I had to watch your video with the sound turned right down , my head is still hurting . Thanks again for doing the long drive down , it rejuvenates and inspires me :-) Cheers John Yes we should do more 'catching up' you live quite central for east coast anyway, and you have a perfect test venue... maybe we should see if there is interest of other Jato and DIYers for a meet in Port Macqurie Yeah going back to Brisbane very little 'council' roadworks and no school zones we did count how many time we had to do a speed change, 85 times for 556 km ,so every 6.5km on average could swear that Friday was almost twice as bad... Im glad that you get inspired, the feeling is mutual. at least we get to talk turbines Thanks for your hospitality and greetings to Linda Cheers Chris PS Lunch is on me next time , no excuses |
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Post by smithy1 on May 9, 2016 15:37:07 GMT -5
Hi Gents,
Was indeed great to catch with John, Linda, Chris and Tina on the weekend and talk turbine related crap, many thanks to Linda and John for their hospitality on Friday too....
As John mentioned, we spent all of Saturday at a charity car show type event at the local Port Macquarie kart track, many liters of jet fuel was happily burnt.. Even if it was only for a few hours...I really enjoyed the day with John. Seeing and hearing John's "Fat Boy" fire up was the highlight of the day form me, a sweet sounding machine indeed and it certainly throws "plenty" of air around. John has done a beautiful job on it which has to be seen in person to appreciate properly...I'm sure Chris would agree.
The "Beast" Go-Kart seems to be making all the right noises now...and making a goodly amount of thrust to go with it, did a few runs up to 40 psi P2, and she sounded pretty sweet. It's slowly getting there. She still has an issue or two to overcome such as some flame-out issues at low rpm/P2's but John and I think we have the answer to that and I'll set about getting it sorted in the next week or so before my next engine runs.
The little jet dragster is working very nicely and I'm really happy with it's performance. In fact, all my "toys" seemed to be working well on the weekend, normally I have some little problem/issue or another...but not this weekend...everything just worked as it should.....which is a big relief.
All in all a really enjoyable weekend, thanks to all concerned.
Cheers,
Smithy.
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Post by racket on May 9, 2016 16:26:31 GMT -5
Hi Smithy
LOL..............very enjoyable even if a bit of sensory overload for me ..........heh heh , I'm slowly coming good :-)
That fuel leakage after the return trip home was caused by fuel being forced out of the tanks "breather" hole .
The batteries took a bit of time to recharge after their numerous starts , though a quick "spoolup" check prior to recharging had the starter turning the rotor to ~11,000 rpm , so probably enough still in there for a couple more starts.
Thanks again for the opportunity to see/hear the kart in full song .
Cheers
John
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Post by smithy1 on May 9, 2016 17:34:06 GMT -5
Hi Smithy LOL..............very enjoyable even if a bit of sensory overload for me ..........heh heh , I'm slowly coming good :-) That fuel leakage after the return trip home was caused by fuel being forced out of the tanks "breather" hole . The batteries took a bit of time to recharge after their numerous starts , though a quick "spoolup" check prior to recharging had the starter turning the rotor to ~11,000 rpm , so probably enough still in there for a couple more starts. Thanks again for the opportunity to see/hear the kart in full song . Cheers John LOL...I did offer you some ear muffs, it's your own fault if your ears are still ringing...  Sensory overload is something both of us old men suffer I think...takes me a good few minutes to get all my ducks lined up properly before I attempt a start on the "Beast". I've slowly learned to just try and relax and just let things happen...I try to stay calm although my single brain cell is doing a million mph trying to keep up. The more I rush things, the more mistakes I make...slow and steady seems to work best, for me at least. Lately though, I've been able to get the starts done well without any issues....can only be a good thing I guess. As long as I keep to my "sequence"...it seems to work well. I think with your "new" battery configuration you should have no more starting issues, just need to keep them nicely topped up and you'll be good to go...the starter system you have works nicely now. The first few times we do a start on an unfamiliar machine it can be a bit nerve wracking...it will get easier as you get used to it...  Yeah...I also enjoy every opportunity to run the "Beast"...I still get a silly grin when I hear it at full song....and the A/B and flame holder appears to be working very well now, I think I'll leave well enough alone. If it ain't broke and all that... You should be justifiably proud of your latest "Fat Boy" creation John, it's a really nice home made turbine engine... Cheers, Smithy. |
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Post by smithy1 on May 9, 2016 18:19:48 GMT -5
Hi John, I'm in the process of testing a customer's C20B fuel nozzle this morning and did a quick run at 300, 350 & 375psi, fuel flow @ 300psi is 225pph, 350psi is 254pph, @ 375 psi is 268pph....food for thought. The "Beast" was running similar pressures and I suspect similar flows at 35, 38 & 40psi P2...She's a thirsty girl indeed..! I think I need to take her up to 42psi P2 next....then we'll hear some nice noise!! Just need to find a way to hold her back to stop her taking off up the road..! Cheers, Smithy. |
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Post by smithy1 on Jun 5, 2016 20:29:32 GMT -5
Hi All,
Am finally back from my "South Pacific" cruise...weather was great until I returned home, we had torrential rain over the past three days or so..! All good though with only minor flooding to my property.
John,
The inductive NPN rpm sensor and 5 digit readout arrived while I was away...I'll have a good look in the next week or two at where I can mount it in the comp housing, it has an 8mm thread and lock nut. I have a two day car show this coming weekend at Eastern Creek Raceway so I'll wait until after that before fiddling with it. Will be an opportunity for me to try out the flame tube "primary zone" mods too.
If the RPM sensor works as it should, (and I can't see why not), I'll get another and shoot it to you....they're cheap as chips..!
Cheers,
Smithy.
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Post by racket on Jun 7, 2016 4:06:02 GMT -5
Hi Smithy LOL, I hope you got plenty of tropical sunshine whilst laying in the deck chair sipping a cold one ;-) I'll be very interested in the tach tests , I've ordered a couple of laser tachs www.ebay.com.au/itm/221438284351?euid=d95665ee8ec144d38947c10d7d393486&bu=43508149282&cp=1&sojTags=bu=bu as I needed one to check running rpm as the "mounted" tach is only for starter motor rpm during spoolup ...........can't have too many tachs . All the best for the weekends show , hope the flametube mods make a bit of difference , one way or the other . I got a new P2 gauge mounted on the test stand , its only a 37 psi - 2.5 Bar unit so nice and easy to read ............once the new tachs arrive I can think about another test run Cheers John |
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.............24 hours later my headache is still with me despite the copious amount of painkillers , hopefully the ringing in my ears will go away in a day or so...... thanks Smithy , you've done a beautiful job of creating a great machine , it puts on a really nice show for the punters whilst still being able to reach its full thrust potential , a well developed machine you should be very proud of 
